Things are going really well with the delegation. We just moved on to the second part our trip. Our first three days were spent with the children of Vanofka orphanage. It was so good to see some of my kids again. I have missed them a lot since being back in the States. I was reminded of how strong those relationships have grown over time.
On Friday I explained that I was not coming back to live right away. It was such a hard discussion to get through, especially while watching the kids' faces. Earlier that day the delegation had a lesson about doing the right thing even when it was hard. Without planning it, my talk with them about staying in the States right now went right along with the lesson. I chose to do this right before our swim time so that we would have something to distract us and cause us to have fun despite the sad news. I also wanted to give them time to process it before I left. One young man was talking to me the next day about it and admitted to me that he cried when I told them. I was able to tell him that I did too. After swimming I had to take some time to myself to process the pain of leaving behind these kids for the time being.
One of the highlights of my time was being able to play soccer with the kids. We played Americans vs. Kazakhs - which was a lot of fun. It was a pretty intense game and at the end of an hour it ended up in a tie. It was fun to have the energy and desire to play a serious game of soccer again.
I have really enjoyed being able to help facilitate this delegation. The youth are growing so much and really made a difference in the lives of kids at Vanofka. It was fun to see how well they connected despite the language barrier and our short time there.
Despite some lack of sleep, I am really enjoying my time so far and am continuing to look forward to my time here. I know it will be very difficult to say goodbye to the rest of my kids and my friends here, but I also know it will be a really good time.
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